


Of Stout Heart and Valiant Courage

by destinare



Category: Greek Mythology, Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Ancient History, Atlantis, F/M, Gen, Greek Mythology - Freeform, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-05
Updated: 2019-11-05
Packaged: 2021-01-23 08:00:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,751
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21316822
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/destinare/pseuds/destinare
Summary: The Chat Noir Miraculous is fraught with bad luck. What sort of experiences did the previous Chat Noir holders endure?
Comments: 2
Kudos: 4





	Of Stout Heart and Valiant Courage

**Author's Note:**

> Something quick I wrote after watching "Feast" and some off hand comments made about Plagg's destructive powers. Ladybug got a lot of backstory history. Chat Noir didn't, and I wanted to do something about that. So, here you go. I did way more research for this than I probably should have.

She disguised herself as a man and joined Alexander’s army. She believed in his goal. That’s what she told everyone. She felt the ring dig into her hand as she clenched her fist. It was away from home and everyone. She wanted to see more than the Aegean Sea and the islands. Following Alexander was her chance to see the Great Outer Sea.

“Eurypyle?”

It was a gentle murmur only she could hear. “You said you were drawn east, yes?”

“Yes,” Plagg murmured. “I think my counterpart is out there.”

“We will find your Tikki,” she assured him. 

“Remember our bad luck, _kyria_.”

Eurypyle snorted. “We are with Alexander on campaign. There will be both good and bad luck.”

~*~

They suppressed revolts to the north and expanded east, taking control of Thrace and the bordering lands. They conquered more lands and stopped more revolts as they headed south.

“Hmm. I’ve been here before.” Plagg absently ate the cheese Eurypyle offered him.

“Really? When?”

“Hundreds of years ago,” he replied off-handedly. 

“Will you tell me about your adventures as we march further east?” He mentioned things here and there but never elaborated. She saw him hesitate. “It would help pass the time as we march into Mesopotamia.”

Plagg relented. “Have you ever heard of-"

*****

Odysseus clenched his hand, feeling the ring bite into the flesh of his hand. He knew they needed a win against the Trojans, but at what cost? Yes, the horse was his idea, as were many others. He saw himself as a reasonable man. Achilles’ rage drove him, Ajax the Greater’s thirst for war was his motivation. 10 long years of this, of death and rage, of prides wounded. Helen wasn’t the cause. She was just the excuse needed to fight and ultimately defeat the Trojans. 

He hadn’t wanted to be here in the first place. The oracle warned him of a long journey home, and now all he wanted to do was go home. Just his luck that storms would blow him off course. 

“What now, Plagg?” he asked quietly.

“Bad luck comes with the job, _kyrie_,” Plagg reminded him.

It was just as well. He was the one that discovered Achilles’ beneath his disguise and convinced him to join the war against the Trojans. He was the one that calmed the troops and championed their cause when others questioned Agamemnon’s command. He was the one that convinced Agamemnon not to retreat after so many were injured. He was the one that stole King Rhesus’ horses. He came up with the idea of the hollow horse.

“Ten years,” Odysseus murmured. “The oracle said the journey home would be long. How many-“

A noise from Plagg halted him. “Ten years of war, of using your cunning, of things going right. How long do you think it will take?” The kwami looked out over the unfamiliar waters and the land beyond. 

Odysseus knew, without a doubt, how long it would take. He didn’t dare say a word. To utter the words would make it true. Maybe if some god of luck showed him mercy, it wouldn’t take so long to return home.

*****

He knew getting the fleece would be difficult. He figured if the more miraculous wielders there were to help him on his journey, the better. Argonauts, he’d call them. After the ship Argo. Or maybe after the ship builder Argus. It didn’t matter. There were more than just the miraculous holders willing to join him. There were 49 crew-mates. Including himself, that made 50. He knew full well King Pelias expected him to die on this quest. It was an impossible one, after all. The fleece was in Colchis, in a sacred grove devoted to Ares, and protected by bulls with hoofs of brass and breath of fire with a dragon that never slept with teeth that became soldiers when planted in the ground.

An impossible task for mere mortals. 

A slight delay in Lemnos was hardly a bother, but the incident at Bear Mountain ended with unfortunate events. A price to pay for wielding the miraculous of destruction. The lost a few comrades at Mysia, then departed for Bebryces. He knew without a doubt that Pollux would win his boxing match against King Amycus. What did surprise him was that the young man slew the king with one blow. They beat a hasty retreat. 

They sought out Phineus in Salmydessus to consult about their voyage. The seer agreed but only if they could free him from the harpies. It was the sons of Boreas who accomplished the task. He told the Argonauts about the Clashing Rocks, and as soon as they passed through with timing and a blessing, the rocks stood still.

But for all their successes there was a lot of bad luck. Always the balance of things. From Euxine to Colchis it was bad luck mixed with good. But it was Medea who lulled the final obstacle, the dragon, to sleep and brought him the fleece. They escaped Colchis in the middle of the night and began the journey home. But they earned Zeus’ wrath and appealed to Circe to be purified.

Orpheus countered the sirens as they sailed past them, only losing Butes. Win and a loss. Good and bad luck, always in balance. But it was leaning more toward bad luck when they encountered Charybdis and Scylla. 

But there was more bad luck on Thrinacia. He married Medea, but during a sacrifice to Athena, he was surprised by Absyrtus, sent by Aeetes to retrieve Medea, and slew him. They fled once again. They would have stopped at Crete if not for Talos. Once again it was Medea who slew the him, and from there they were able to go home. Surely all of his bad luck was at an end. He was home, and he would take his rightful place as King of Iolcus.

*****

It was duty that brought him here. He rubbed his thumb along the bottom of the ring. He was determined to find his sister. But when he asked the oracle at Delphi, she told him to give up his quest. Could he just give up on his sister? Was he willing to defy the gods to rescue his sister from Zeus?

He was tired, and so was the cow with the half moon mark on its flank. Maybe he would stay here. Not that he could go home without Europa. He swore, didn’t he? He swore he wouldn’t go home without his sister. It was just his luck that things wouldn’t go according to plan.

What he hadn’t counted on, but should’ve known would happen, was a dragon guarding the nearby spring. Was it too much to ask for some fresh water?

Slaying the dragon was no easy feat, even with the miraculous of destruction. Where was his other half? Where was creation? Luck? There wasn’t time to think about it. Nothing was working. It was a last ditch effort that he grabbed a rock, the heaviest he could find, and smashed the dragon’s head in.

At Plagg’s suggestion he planted the teeth in the earth. What could possibly happen with planting dragon teeth? It was to his great surprise when fully grown, armed men sprang from the earth. Not knowing what else to do, he lazily threw a rock down among them to see what would happen. 

They fought amongst each other, forcing him to hide as best he could as he watched them kill one another until only five remained. He tied the bag containing the rest of the teeth a little tighter. The remaining five walked about listlessly until he made himself known.

Maybe his luck was turning around.

But as his luck would prove, slaying the dragon had consequences. The dragon was sacred to Ares, and his punishment was 8 years of service to the god.  
“Plagg, I blame you.”

The kwami nearly laughed. “You agreed to be my wielder, _kyrie_.” He floated in front of Cadmus. “It won’t be all bad. There’s always good luck to balance out the bad.”

Cadmus snorted. “Only when the miraculous of creation is here. Until then...”

“Cheer up. Bad luck doesn’t always last.”

*****

“You do this and you will be blamed for all time.”

She looked at Andros for a long moment, memorizing every detail of his face. “Our people’s greed is the cause of our destruction.”

“Corruption shouldn’t be the reason why you do this.” Andros took her by the shoulders as he tried to reason with her.

She shrugged his hands off. “You know that’s not why. This power we’ve created because of our wounded pride because we lost to the Athenians? It’s consuming the land. We’ve already mined everything we can and yet we keep digging deeper. Whatever our scientists have discovered it’s making our land unstable. Haven’t you felt the rumblings of the earth for the past few days?”

“Eione, you’re the wielder of destruction. What do you hope to accomplish? You can’t contain it.” He watched her, waiting for her to reply. He stared hard at her as she kept her silence. And then it dawned on him. “You’re going to destroy it. Whatever it is they’re making.”

“There’s two of them,” she told him quickly. “I destroy those weapons and the ability to recreate them, it might be enough to save our home. You need to keep the people safe.”

“What aren’t you telling me?” Andros demanded.

Eione looked away. “Promise me you’ll keep the people safe.”

Andros swore. “Not until you tell me-“

“I don’t know what’s going to happen!” she cried. “I don’t know what destroying those weapons will do to the land. Maybe the rumblings will stop and we can live as we always have. Maybe the destruction will hasten our home’s demise. Either way, we can’t let them keep ruining our home. They’ll destroy us if we don’t.”

He wanted to persuade her from this course of action. There had to be another way. Reason with their leaders, tell them to stop and focus on being tradesmen. But even as he thought of all the other ways to halt the destruction of their home, a small part of him knew that their leaders would never stop. “I’ll prepare those willing to listen. We’ll have a way to escape if the worst is to happen. But Eione, what about you?”

She winked at him, feigning a confidence she didn’t quite feel. “Cats always land on their feet.”

Andros sighed in exasperation. Trying to get her to give him a concrete answer was next to impossible. “When are you doing this?”

“Soon. Before they unveil the weapons.”

~*~

The rumblings were getting worse. Andros was able to convince a small group to prepare for evacuation. They didn’t like the rolling of their home about as much as he did, but there was a good portion of the populace that believed their elders and leaders knew best, and the protesting of their home was nothing to worry about. They would reclaim their glory taken from them by the Athenians and their alliance. The more he saw how entrenched people were in the path they chose, the more convinced he was that Eione was right. The best way to solve this was to destroy those weapons. He just hoped that she would give him a sign before she began her work.

~*~

“Are you sure about this, _kori_?”

Eione paused as she looked at the building, gleaming white in the sun. “They will destroy us if I don’t. If I destroy those things before that, maybe our home won’t be destroyed,” she told Plagg.

The kwami zipped around her, hovering in front of her. “And if destruction of everything is the result?”

“What else can I do? We’ve tried it Andros’ way. Our empire was defeated. They’re hurt, they feel wronged. They won’t stop these weapons from being built.” She felt tired. So damned tired. 

“’Even if you destroy the world, I am by your side.’” Her own words quoted back to her. They were partners. They would do this together, even if it meant the destruction of their home. “Trust Andros. He’ll get people to safety.”

Eione nodded, and felt the magic take hold.

~*~

Everyone thought it was the end of the world. The earth upheaved and fell from beneath their feet as their beloved city toppled to the ground. Andros ushered as many people to the harbor as he could, looking for any sign of Eione. Time was running short. People screamed for him to join them.

It wasn’t until he saved as many as he could and the harbor started to collapse and fall into the sea did he join them. He thought, maybe, there would be a great fire and they would rebuild. They done it before, when their enemies came and attacked them. He didn’t think he’d witness the fall of Atlantis.

~*~

Eione woke on a beach, coughing up sea water. Her body dry heaved to be sure it had rid itself of the foul water. Her first thought was the miraculous, and slumped with relief when she found the ring still on her finger. 

“Plagg?” she croaked.

The kwami came into her line of vision. “I wasn’t sure if you would make it, _kori_.”

“Why didn’t you let me- What exactly-“

Her memories were jumbled. She remembered finding the weapons, great machines made of magic and science, siphoning the mana of the earth they sat upon. She destroyed one, but then she was running out of time. 

There was someone else-

“Danae!” Eione forced herself up, willing her body to stand and look for the other woman. Danae was there. She whisked Eione out of the building as Plagg darted off. “Danae!” she cried again. 

A body lay in the surf, and she prayed that whoever it was stilled breathed. She recognized the mop of dark hair and stumbled down beside them. “Danae?”

A groan surfaced as the other woman rolled onto her back. “How am I not dead?”

Eione laughed. “Luck. Dumb luck.” She helped Danae sit up and move out of the waves. “How did you know that I was going to be there? Near the temple?”

Danae looked up at Eione for a moment, then out at the sea. “Andros told me. He asked me to look out for you. That you were planning something risky and and dangerous. We couldn’t let you take on the responsibility alone.”

“Then... when the magic wore off-“

“With the fire and the earth cracking open, I thought it would be a good idea to get you out of there.”

“Then, Plagg-“

“I finished your work, _kori_.”

“Plagg...”

The kwami’s ears slumped. “I’m sorry about your home. I didn’t- Without you, I couldn’t focus enough- I didn’t want you to be blamed for the destruction of Atlantis.” He squared his shoulders at the last. It was the worst case scenario, but he wouldn’t let his wielder be blamed for such a catastrophe. 

“But I started it,” Eione began.

“No, our leaders did,” Danae cut in. “I had to see for myself after Andros told me.” She sighed. “C’mon. We need to find water, shelter, and food.”

It wasn’t long before they were found by others. Were they natives to whatever land they found themselves in? Were they other survivors? A familiar figure emerged as they drew closer. Whoever it was began running toward the women, shouting. 

“We should be careful,” Danae cautioned.

Eione ignored her friend and bolted toward the runner. She knew without a doubt who it was. Knew without any explanation except that she felt it, that pull toward her equal and opposite. “Andros!” she shouted above the crashing waves.

Her name drifted toward her, barely heard above the surf. As she drew closer she recognized the familiar shape of Andros. Wonderful, steadfast Andros. She flung herself at him as soon as he was close enough and held him tight, relieved to see him alive.

“I thought you were dead,” he mumbled into her hair. She could still hear the strain in his voice, the relief and weariness.

“I thought I was, too,” she said with a watery laugh, “but Danae was there. And then Plagg, he-“

”It doesn’t matter. You’re here.” Andros pulled back a little to look at her, reassuring himself that she wasn’t a figment of his imagination or a mirage.

“Where is here?”

“_Kemet_,” Andros answered. “The people call this region _Ta-Mehew_.”

**Author's Note:**

> Eurypyle - an Amazon who was reported to have led an expedition against Ninun and Babylon  
kyria - Greek for lady, madam, or milady  
kyri - Greek for maiden, maid  
kyrie - Greek for lord, master, sir  
Kemet - The ancient name of Egypt  
Ta-Mehew - The ancient name of Lower Egypt
> 
> I used the eruption of Thera as the inspiration for Atlantis
> 
> I hope it wasn't terrible D:


End file.
